Automatic record loading player

ABSTRACT

An automatic record loading player having a slit through which a record is inserted, the slit is formed in front of player cabinet, a drive mechanism for transferring the inserted record to a centering position, a centering mechanism for achieving the centering operation of the record in abutment with an outer periphery of the record, and a loading mechanism for transferring the centered record onto a turntable while maintaining the record at its center hole.

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.345,846, filed Feb. 4, 1982 and now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 4,497,051issued 1-29-85.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an automatic record loading player.

There have been proposed two types of automatic record loading player.In one type, the record is transferred onto the turntable after thecentering of the record is achieved in the record loading. In the othertype, the centering is achieved after the inserted record is transferredabove the turntable.

In the former type, when the record is inserted, it is necessary to pushthe record up to the centering position and it is difficult to insertthe record disc having a small diameter in the system in which thecentering position is remote from the insertion position. Also, if thecentering position is near to the insertion position, a part ofcentering mechanism is exposed outside disadvantageously.

In the latter type, the centering mechanism must be disposed coaxiallywith an outside of the turntable. Its construction becomes intricate andenlarged so that the player cabinet must be enlarged in size or theturntable must be miniaturized in size.

Also, in the prior art automatic record loading players, a centeringmechanism is required to hold the record, to transfer it to theturntable position and to position it on the turntable. However, thecentering mechanism which enables centering records different indiameter is relatively large in size and becomes intricate inconstruction without operational reliability.

Also, the prior art automatic record loading player suffers fromdisadvantage in its drive guide means for the center spindle assembly.

There have been provided automatic record loading players in which theinserted record is held at its center hole and is transferred to theturntable position. In such record players, in case where the spindle isnot correctly set on the center hole, the spindle may contact againstthe record to cause a damage thereon and a break-down of the playermechanism.

In the prior art players, the record is transferred by an automaticloading mechanism, while the record disc is held at the center holethereof. In such a condition, the record is unstable and there is a riskthat the record may be slanted during the transportation, therebycausing damage of the record and break-down of the player.

Also, in the prior art players, it is necessary to ensure the projectionof the holder which may clamp the record after the spindle is insertedinto the spindle and prior to the movement thereof. If this timing isnot attained, the holder may scratch the inner wall of the center holeto thereby cause a damage of the record and to drop the record duringits transportation, disadvantageously.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides as an object a novel automatic recordloading player to overcome the above noted defects. The object isachieved by providing an automatic record loading player comprising aplayer cabinet having a front panel and a slit through which a record isinserted, the slit being formed in the front panel, drive means fortransferring the inserted record to a centering position, centeringmeans for centering the record while abutting against an outer peripheryof the record, and loading means for transferring the centered recordonto a turntable while maintaining the record at its center hole.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the centering meansfor automatic record loading players includes drive roller means formoving an inserted record to a centering position, guide levers rotatingin the opposite direction to each other in abutment with a circumferenceof the record, a detecting lever rotating rearwardly in abutment withthe circumference of the record, and a plurality of switches which areactuated by the rotations of the guide levers and the detecting lever,whereby by the switches, the drive roller is controlled so that recordsdifferent in diameter may be centered at the constant centeringposition.

According to the present invention, record loading means for automaticrecord loading players includes a center spindle assembly for holding acentered record at its center hole, having at least three pairs of pinswhich are formed at different intervals on each side of the centerspindle assembly, a pair of stationary guide plates each having thereina guide groove extending from a centering position to a turntableposition, the guide groove being formed of a horizontal section, aninwardly extending section extending upwardly in association with anarrangement of the pins at the centering position and a downwardlyextending section extending downwardly in association with thearrangement of the pins at the turntable position, and a drive guidehaving slant grooves for moving the center spindle assembly along theguide grooves of the guide plates, wherein the pins of the centerspindle assembly are commonly engaged with the guide grooves of theguide plates and the slant grooves of the drive guide.

According to the present invention, an automatic record loading playercomprises a center spindle assembly having a spindle movable up and downand detecting means for detecting a state that the spindle is correctlyengaged with a center hole of a record.

According to another aspect of the present invention, an automaticrecord loading player comprises a center spindle assembly having asupport plate and a spindle mounted on an underside of the supportplate, the spindle having a retractable holder for holding a record atits center hole, and stationary cam means for lifting up the spindle inthe transportation of the record to firmly clamp the record by thesupport plate and the retractable holder whereby the record is preventedfrom slanting in the transportation.

According to the invention, an automatic record loading player comprisesholder means for holding a record at its center hole, fixed at a lowerend of an eccentric shaft having at its upper end an L-shaped bentportion, the holder means being retractable into and projectable from aspindle, means for normally biasing the eccentric shaft to project theholder means from the spindle, fixed plate means for contacting againstand rotating the eccentric shaft in the direction in which the holdermeans is retracted into the spindle when the spindle is not engaged withthe center hole of the record, and stopping means for contacting againstan rotating the eccentric shaft in the direction in which the holdermeans is retracted into the spindle, only when the record is unloadedfrom a turntable position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the first embodiment of record playeraccording to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the inner mechanism of the recordplayer;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the drive roller and the driven rollers;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are a plan view and a side view showing, respectively, theleft and right guide levers and the detecting lever;

FIG. 6 is an exploded view showing the support means of the supportplate;

FIGS. 7a-e are illustrations showing the movement of the support platein accordance with the movement of the drive guide;

FIG. 8(a) is a front view of the center spindle assembly;

FIGS. 8(b) and (c) are illustrations showing the movement of thespindle;

FIGS. 9a-c and 10a-c are illustrations showing the overall operations,respectively;

FIGS. 11a-f are illustrations showing the outline of the overallmechanism;

FIGS. 12a-c are illustrations showing the operation for the 17 cm recorddisc;

FIGS. 13a-c are illustrations showing the operation for the 30 cm recorddisc;

FIGS. 14a-b are illustrations showing the escape of the detecting lever;and

FIGS. 15a-c and 16 are views showing a safety device according to thepresent invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will now be described with reference to theaccompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the automatic record loading player inwhich in front of the player cabinet are provided a slit through whichthe record disc is inserted and various switches.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of its inner mechanism which comprises acentering mechanism for centering the inserted record disc through theslit, a loading mechanism for transferring the centered record disc,held at its center, to the turntable, and a play mechanism for achievedthe automatic play.

(A) Centering Mechanism

As shown in FIG. 3, the centering mechanism is made up of a drive roller7 and driven rollers 2 which are faced with each other just inside ofand above and below the slit and a left guide lever 32, a right guidelever 36 and detecting lever 43 which support at ends three doubletruncated cone shaped rollers 47a, 47b and 47c, respectively, as bestshown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The drive roller 7 is driven through a belt 31and a gear box 12 by a motor 29, and is rotated around shafts 10a and10b by means of plungers 28a and 28b so that it may be selectively inengagement with the driven roller 2. The two driven rollers 2 aremounted on the bottom plate of the player cabinet while the rollers 2are faced with the drive roller 7 on the right and left sides. The rightand left guide levers 36 and 32 are moved to rotate in the oppositedirections to each other by the connecting rod or bar 49 and are biasedto move close to each other by reset springs 57a at their specificshaped contact rollers 47a and 47b. On the left guide lever 32 is fixeda cam 40 for actuating a switch SW-2 mounted on an upper plate of theplayer cabinet. A gear portion 40a formed on the cam 40 is engaged witha projection 54a of a lock lever 54. Behind the left guide lever 32 aresupported the lock lever 54 for locking the left guide lever 32 by theengagement with the gear portion 40a of the cam 40 and an L-shaped lever50 which is rotated when the drive guide 65 is moved. The lever 54 and50 are moved together by a connecting rod or bar 53.

The detecting lever 43 supporting at its end the contact roller 47c isbiased in the clockwise direction, i.e., in the front direction withrespect to the player cabinet by the reset spring 57b. A cam 46 foractuating a switch SW-1 mounted on the upper plate of the player cabinetis fixed to the detecting lever 43. The detecting lever 43 is coupled toan L-shaped lever 58 which is rotated in abutment with a cam 65a of thedrive guide 65 by a bar 61, and in the play mode, the roller 47c ismoved remote from the outer circumference of the record.

(B) Loading Mechanism

Two stationary guide plates 67 and 68 are formed to extend from thecentering position of the turntable along the upper plate of the playercabinet. The guide plates 67 and 68 are each in the form of an L-shapedin cross section. At the suspended portions, as shown in FIG. 6, grooves67' and 68' (68' being shown therein since the two members have the sameconfiguration) are formed. Three pairs of pins 83 formed on the supportplate 81 supporting a center spindle assembly 80 are engaged with thegrooves 67' and 68'. Further, the pins 83 are engaged with slant grooves65' formed in the drive guide 65.

A rack 63 is fixed to the drive guide 65 and is movable back and forthby the rack drive motor 73. By the movement of the drive guide 65 fromthe centering position to the center of the turntable, the pins 83 ofthe support plate 81 are lowered at the centering position as shown inFIGS. 7a and b (at the left end in the figure), and subsequently, thepins are moved rearwardly and are further lowered at the turntableposition as shown in FIG. 7e (at the right end in the figure). The threepairs of guide pins 83 are formed at different intervals. Even when thesupport plate 81 is close to the positions shown in FIGS. 7d and e, atleast two pairs of guide pins are always disposed on the horizontalportions of the grooves 67' and 68'.

The center spindle assembly 80 supported on the support plate 81 is soconstructed that as shown in FIG. 8a, the spindle 89 is supportedmovably up and down. At the lower outer periphery of the spindle 89, aholder 93 holding the record disc is retractable by an eccentric shaft94. An upper portion of the eccentric shaft 94 is formed in an L-shape.In accordance with the movement of the drive guide 65, the eccentricshaft 94 is rotated in abutment with an angle plate 99 formed in theupper plate 108 of the player cabinet and the stopping member 96supported to the angle plate 99 so that the holder 93 is projected fromthe spindle 89.

As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the stopping member 96 is changed in theangular position according to the difference in the movement directionof the drive guide 65. More specifically, when the drive guide 65 ismoved from the centering position to the turntable, as shown in FIG. 9c,a side cam 96' of the stopping member 96 is engaged with a selector 103supported at an angle 100 fixed to the rack 63. When the spindle 89 islowered, the upper end of the eccentric shaft is moved to deviate fromthe stopping member 96 so that the eccentric shaft 94 is rotated in thecounterclockwise direction under the force of the spring 95. As aresult, the holder 93 projects to thereby hold the record.

Also, when the drive guide 65 is moved from the turntable position tothe centering position, inversely, as shown in FIG. 10c, the selector103 is rotated to pass through the side cam 96'. since the stoppingmember 96 is maintained at the lowered position, and the stopping member96 is not released from the eccentric shaft 94, the holder 93 is held inthe retracted position, and subsequently when the spindle 89 is liftedupwardly, the record is released therefrom.

(C) Play Mechanism

The play mechanism is composed of the turntable mounted in the centralportion of the player cabinet, a linear tracking arm mounted behind theturntable and a well known full automatic mechanism.

The operation will now be described.

Referring now to FIG. 11, an outline of the operation will be explained.

(i) A record disc R is manually inserted through the slit.

(ii) The drive roller 7 is a lowered to clamp and retract the recorddisc R.

(iii) The record disc R is stopped at the centering position, and thespindle 89 is lowered and the holder 93 is projected to thereby hold therecord disc.

(iv) The drive roller is raised and the spindle is moved rearwardly.

(v) The record disc is stopped at the turntable position and is loweredonto the turntable.

(vi) The automatic play mode begins.

When the play is finished, the record disc is unloaded from the slit inthe opposite order to the above.

(I) Centering

When the record disc is inserted through the slit, the outer peripheryof the record is in abutment with the contact rollers 47a and 47b, andthe left and right guide levers 32 and 36 are rotated in the left andright directions, respectively. Then, the disc is in abutment with thecontact roller 47c of the detecting lever disposed rearwardly to therebyrotate the detecting lever 43 rearwardly.

When by the rotations of the guide lever 32 and the detecting lever 43,the switches SW-2 and/or SW-1 is turned on, the plungers 28a and 28b areactuated to thereby pressingly move the drive roller 7 against therecord disc. At the same time, the motor 29 is actuated so that therecord is retracted into the interior of the player cabinet.

FIGS. 12 and 13 show the states in which the 17 cm and 30 cm diameterrecord discs are used, respectively. In case of the 17 cm record discinserted, since the rotational movements of the right and left guidelevers are small, as shown in FIG. 12c, the switch SW-2 is not changedfrom the off-state, the switch SW-1 is turned on by the operation of thedetecting lever 43 to that the plungers and the drive roller areoperative. Then, at the position A1 shown in FIG. 12b, the switch SW-2is turned off and the drive roller is stopped.

In case of the 30 cm record disc, as shown in FIG. 13c, the detectinglever 43 is rotated to the position A1, and even if the switch SW-1 isturned off, the switch SW-2 is turned on. Therefore, the drive roller isnot stopped, and is stopped when the switches SW-1 and SW-2 are bothturned off, at the position A2 shown in FIG. 13(b).

Incidentally, in any case, even if the drive roller is stopped at thecentering position, the plungers are maintained in the biased position,and the drive roller is used to pressingly support the record.

(II) Loading

When the switches SW-1 and SW-2 are both turned off, the rack drivemotor 73 is actuated so that the rack 63, that is, drive guide 65commences to move rearwardly.

As described before, by the movement of the drive guide 65, the supportplate 81 is lowered at the centering position along the grooves 67' and68' of the guide plates, and the spindle 89 is engaged with the centerhole of the record disc centered.

At the same time, as shown in FIG. 9c, the eccentric shaft 94 is movedto deviate from the angle plate 99 and is rotated in thecounterclockwise direction, and the holder 93 is projected from thespindle 89 to thereby hold the record disc.

Also, the projecting portion 63' formed on the side surface of the rack63 actuates the switch SW-4, so that the plungers 28a and 28b aredeactivated and the drive roller 7 is raised to thereby release therecord disc.

Furthermore, when the drive guide 65 is moved rearwardly, the supportplate 81 is changed in its moving direction from the vertical directionto the horizontal direction along the grooves 67' and 68' of the guideplates 67 and 68 so that the drive guide 65 is moved rearwardly.

As shown in FIG. 8a, the spindle 89 is provided on its own sides with apair of guide shafts 90. As shown in FIGS. 8b and c, the guide shaftsride over an up-and-down cam 70 and the spindle 89 is somewhat raised.By decreasing the interval between the holder 93 and the support plate81, the record disc may be prevented from slanting during thetranspotation.

When the drive guide 65 is moved rearwardly, as indicated by the arrowin FIG. 4, the L-shaped lever 50 is rotated in the counterclockwisedirection by the spring 57c so that the lock lever 54 is rotated whilethe projection 54a thereof is engaged with the gear portion 40a of thecam 40 to thereby lock the guide lever 32.

When the drive guide 65 is further moved rearwardly, as shown in FIG.14, the L-shaped lever 58 is rotated in the clockwise direction by thecam 65a and the contact roller 47c deviates from the path of the recorddisc, the roller being formed on the detecting lever 43.

When the support plate 81 is brought to the turntable position, themoving direction is changed along the grooves of the guide plate and theplate is lowered and stopped at the turntable.

(III) Unloading

By the operations of the automatic play termination detecting and theeject switch, the rotation in the direction opposite to the loading inthe rack drive motor 73 is commenced and the drive guide 65 is movedforwardly. In the opposite manner to the loading, the spindle 89 servesto lift the record disc from the turntable and then the disc is movedtoward the centering position.

As different from the loading, as shown in FIG. 10, the selector 103swung only rearwardly rides over the side surface cam 96' of thestopping member, and the stopping member 96 is projected downwardly fromthe angle plate 99. Therefore, the eccentric shaft 94 is in abutmentwith the stopping member 96 and is gradually rotated in the clockwisedirection so that the holder 93 is retracted into the spindle 89.

When the rack 63 is positioned at the centering position, the switchSW-4 is actuated to bias the plunger, and the drive roller 7 is pressedagainst the record. Subsequently, The spindle is raised and the spindleis pulled apart from the center hole of the record.

When the rack 63 is moved at the frontmost position, a switch SW-3 isactuated so that the rack drive motor 73 is stopped and at the sametime, the drive roller is rotated in the opposite direction. Then, therecord is unloaded from the slit of the front panel of the cabinet sothat the operations are terminated in the condition shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 15 shows another embodiment according to the present invention.There is a risk that in loading, the spindle 89 may not be engaged withthe center hole of the record, this case, a safety device isadditionally needed. The difference from the embodiment described above,is that the switch SW-9 is provided at the position where the guideshafts 90 of the spindle 89 are in abutment with the support plate 81 inthe lift-up condition.

The operation will now be described. In case where the centeringoperation is normally achieved and the spindle 89 is engaged with thecenter hole, as shown in FIG. 15b, the switch SW-9 is not turned on.

However, if due to some accidents, the centering operation of the recorddisc is not carried out, and as shown in FIG. 15c, the spindle 89 is notlowered in abutment with the record disc when the support plate 81 islowered, the spindle 89 is raised with respect to the support plate sothat the switch SW-9 is acutated by the guide shaft 90. When the switchSW-9 is acutated, the rack drive motor 73 is driven in the oppositedirection, the drive guide 65 is moved forwardly, and the support plate81 is raised so that the drive roller commences rotating in the oppositedirection to the loading, to thereby unload the record disc.

Also, a switch may be provided on the lower side at the centeringoperational position of the record disc so that it may be positivelydetected that the spindle 89 is positioned in engagement with the centerhole of the record disc.

Incidentally, in the above described embodiment, the record player inwhich the 17 cm and 30 cm records are commonly used has been explained.However, by selecting suitably the configuration and the number of theswitches, of the guide lever and the cams fixed to the detecting lever,other record discs may of course be used.

As described above, in the automatic record loading player according tothe present invention, the inserted record disc is transferred to thecentering position by the drive mechanism, and after the centeringoperation, the record disc is transferred to the turntable position, sothat even if the centering mechanism is provided in the record insertionposition, the insertion of the record is facilitated and the centeringmechanism and the loading portion can be miniaturized. Furthermore, thecentering mechanism and the loading portion are separated from the playmechanism to thereby facilitate the maintenance and repair of themachine advantageously.

What is claimed is:
 1. An automatic record loading player for loading arecord with a first and second side and a center hole between said sidescomprising a center spindle assembly (80) having a spindle (89) movableup-and-down within said center spindle assembly and detecting means(SW-9, SW) for detecting a state that said spindle has correctlypenetrated said center hole from said first side to said second side. 2.The player of claim 1, wherein said spindle comprises a mainlongitudinal shaft (89) and transverse side shafts (90) and wherein saiddetecting means comprises a detecting switch (Sw-9) mounted at astationary position on said center spindle assembly relative to theup-and-down movement of said spindle for detecting the juxtaposition ofat least one of said side shafts.
 3. The player of claim 1, wherein saiddetecting means comprising a detecting switch (SW) mounted at astationary position relative to the up-and-down movement of said spindleand facing and separate from said second side of the record at itscenter hole for being contacted by said spindle when said spindlepenetrates from said first side to said second side and is correctlyengaged with said center hole.